


sweet bruising

by cloudymalachite



Series: my sucka ocs don't @ me [1]
Category: Digimon Frontier, Original Work
Genre: F/F, M/M, Multi, im so sr ry for putting this in frontier its 10pm and im scared of ao3 eating my fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 14:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13742460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudymalachite/pseuds/cloudymalachite





	sweet bruising

His jacket is wet. 

The Asian man's lip curls as he picks the now-soaked jacket up by the pads of his fingers. He shouldn't have slept on it, but it was either his jacket or his his button-up.

He flings his jacket over his shoulder as he finds his footing in the wet soil. The field had been great camp ground, dry and solid, but the longer they stayed the wetter it became until it was as though they were sleeping in mud.

Teruo isn't surprised when Elbridge announces that they'd be moving today.

He notes quietly how Elbridge had slept on his jacket as well. As the black-haired man speaks, Teruo's gaze sweeps across the half-awake soldiers.

Tarou is avoiding El's gaze. His arms are crossed. His round face is flushed. He looks from his shoes, to Ryu, then to Teruo and looks panicked when he sees his twin had already been looking at him.

Jean, meanwhile, stares at Elbridge. His eyes are narrowed, dark brows furrowed. His fists, scarred and rough, are clenching and unclenching. 

"We'll be leaving as soon as we can," Alistair says from Elbridge's side, hands on his hips. "So get your shit together."

Teruo slides his tongue to one side of his mouth.  
...second time on this tooth. They had been back in the digital world for over thirty two nights.

Thirty two teeth. Thirty three days.

 

Cold and mud seeps down his jacket. 

He holds it at an arm's length, hung over his forearm.  
Though he walks as far as he can from the group, straying further from the more _loud_ members of the group like Alistair and Jaden, Takeshi still finds his way beside him.

Somewhere deep inside, he wishes he still could still walk beside Mao without feeling alienated. 

"Do you want me to dry that?" Takeshi asks. Teruo looks over at him.

He doesn't have as many notes on Takeshi as he does other people. He's not sure why. He has more notes on _Himura_ who practically speaks in tongues and animal grunts when within a mile of Akemi.

If it had been Alistair, the other warrior of flame, he would've said no without a moment of hesitation. His flame would be too hot and would burn his only working jacket.

But he wasn't so sure about Takeshi.  
He doesn't like thinking back to when he was a teen, but he remembers how it was always Takeshi who made sure he fell asleep with a blanket and pillow.  
If Teruo was completely honest with himself, he'd acknowledge that if things had been a little different back then, maybe he could've allowed himself the weakness.

Maybe he should've.

"No, thank you." Teruo blurts out. There's a hot pounding behind his eyes now, and he looks away first.

Takeshi nods, and before awkward tension can simmer the air, Teruo stammers out another, more genuine thank you.

"I just, uh, don't want it to shrink." He says, chewing on his bottom lip. "It's my only jacket." He's not sure why he's giving excuses. If Alistair had asked to dry it, he would've just said no. No excuse.  
He doesn't know if he's lying or not, but something about the uncertainty makes him feel yellow-bellied.

"'Course." Takeshi smiles, eyes soft. Teruo looks away, ashamed.

 

Teruo hovers nearby Takeshi after that. 

He isn't really comfortable with anyone else, even Elbridge, who treats him like a tool to be used (not unreasonable, given that was how their professional relationship worked), or Mao, who Akemi still flocks to. 

So his only option is to be Takeshi's shadow, and keeps an orbit around him.

He isn't close to Takeshi. Still has no more than four notes on him, noting his stature, hair and names.

But even still, Takeshi does not call him out on it. He takes the silent company well.

 

"I can't believe you're really eating this." Teruo mutters to the brown-haired man at the Digitama Diner. "And I've _been_ here before."

Takeshi looks at him before he finishes his sentence, eyes wide with dark red noodles hanging out of his lips. When he finishes, he relaxes suddenly and grins.

"It's not bad." He says, slurping his mouthful down. "Seriously, you should try it. It tastes like fries."

Everyone else ordered something else. Tarou and Elbridge are sitting next to another, the latter's hair wild and hanging loose around his cheeks.

Teruo sniffs at his noodles, prodding them with a chop stick.  
Carefully, he lifts a noodle and politely swallows it down. He doesn't hold it in his mouth, but the salty fried taste that stays isn't.. unappreciated.

"It does, actually." Teruo gets another mass of noodles. "You have good taste."

He doesn't look to see Takeshi's reaction, but he does look to see Takeshi's face light up at the little praise.

 

"You're not gonna eat that!" Takeshi says, a laugh in his voice as they walk through the festival.

His breast soothed by sake, Teruo mimes putting the hanging, alcohol-soaked slab of meat in his mouth.

"Ter, no!" Takeshi pushes it away from his mouth with his chopsticks, laughing. "Didn't that B-Banchowhatevedmon say that it's just for Mega Digimon?" 

Teruo scoffs, his face hot in the cool air. "You underestimate my power."

Takeshi laughs again.

Teruo can see their breaths mingle in the air. He imagines them greeting each other as they mix.

He's aware, faintly, that they're one of the only pairs having a good time.  
Ryu had just been lost inside Sakkakumon, and Alistair was treating Jaden to some beer. Jaden didn't look too distraught, if Teruo was honest. If anything, he looked drunker than Alistair.

Tarou and Ellie were sitting near the outskirts of the field. From what Teruo could tell, they were stargazing.  
Jean had been hovering nearby, back to a stall, looking at them as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Really, Teruo thought that was foolish. The gentle curl of Takeshi's hair was the most interesting thing in the world. The curve of his lips, his tongue softening them with sharp quick motions, the gentle bags under his eyes all made him look like a painting Teruo never wanted to look away from.

"You're in your thirties now, aren't you?" Teruo asks suddenly, blinking at the older man who swam in his vision. Was he drunker than he thought? No, he decided. He was just right.

Takeshi's cheeks color, and Teruo is taken. He is so handsome. He is so handsome.. the words loop in his mind.

"I'm thirty." Takeshi admits quietly. "Big three 'o."

"I'm twenty eight." Teruo smiles, leaning against a pole. The stall owner gives a loud, vocal complaint, but Teruo doesn't care. Something about Takeshi makes him feel alright for the first time in a long time. "When I was seventeen, you were nineteen."

Takeshi gives a small smirk. "Well, only for a bit. Sometimes you're only a year younger than me, Mr. December second."

Teruo's eyes widen, and he feels like a bar girl stunned by a magic trick.  
"You— you," he hiccups, and something about the hiccup sends him crashing back to Earth. He feels stupid, suddenly.  
He'd been fawning over Takeshi so blatantly. He hadn't developed a _soft spot_ for him, had he?  
He glances around.  
Mao is playing some games by a stall, Akemi by her side and looking into the distance.  
Kamacura and Yuuto are eating some kebobs.

"You remembered my birthday." Teruo finally finishes, his cheeks well and red.  
He's definitely drank too much, but he was startled that he'd gotten so worked up just from some sake and Takeshi.  
"That's, uh, good observation skills." He stammers, hoping he doesn't sound too awe-struck. If he's honest, he can't remember Takeshi's birthday, and he feels shame color his face even further.

"I'm, uh, good at remembering dates." Takeshi notices the change in his demeanor and looks embarrassed. After a moment, though, he grins sheepishly.  
"If I'm honest.. I remember it mostly 'cause I had a huge crush on you when we met." He says, the hand not holding a drink reaching back and itself into his soft, dark curls. "I thought you were really cute." His dark skin tinges with a fetching pink.

Teruo decides then that a soft spot really isn't all that bad a thing to have.


End file.
